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What are they?

Mozart's Flashcards are a set of musical flashcards
that can allow a student's skill at the craft of reading and
playing music to grow much faster than using the conventional
approach to learning music alone. They are a wonderful
adjunct to any program of musical study whatsoever. After
using Mozart's Flashcards, students can read music faster, so
they enjoy playing it more! Keyboard instructor Peter
Krauss first developed these unique music flashcards as a
learning tool for his own students, but they have become a
helpful adjunct for others as well. The reason is that
Mozart's Flashcards work! Simple and effective, these
musical flashcards make the process of learning how to read
music more enjoyable for both the teacher and the student.
We'll let Peter tell the rest of the story of how
these remarkable music flashcards came to be.

Why Mozart's Flashcards?

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27th,
1756. He was a prodigy from the start and his sister Nannerl
tells us that as a little boy he loved to pick out thirds on the
keyboard. He was to become one of the greatest musicians of
all time. He created music for the piano, violin, oboe,
cello, string quartet, woodwinds, organ, vocal, etc...but his great
love was the piano and the organ. He attached a set of organ
pedals to his piano and would practice improvising fugues to his
wife's delight. He was, after all, also a professional
organist. Mozart's life and times are marked by one thing,
however, and that is his mastery of music...his sheer skill at the
craft of music...and that's why I humbly name my flash cards after
Mozart - Mozart's Flashcards.

I have found that Mozart's Flashcards cause a student's skill at
the craft of music to augment much faster than the conventional
system of learning music. My students are much more advanced
in piano than their counterparts who study with teachers who do not
use the Mozart's Flashcards sightreading system.

One card forms four notes!

Mozart's Flashcards were developed to help people at
all levels of musicianship develop their ability to read music
easily and conveniently. They do this by their unique
reflexive nature. Each card represents 4 notes. Each
card is named and then inverted. This is done in treble and
bass clefs - hence, 4 notes! There are 11 cards in a
set--thats it. These 11 cards cover 33 notes over four and
one half octaves.

Here's how I do it

I start by having a student name the first eleven
notes--like regular flashcards-- then I invert the cards and we
name the next 11...then we change clefs and repeat the process with
the other clef. Thats IT! At that point I have
exposed this student to 33 notes on about four and one half
octaves. The student reads piano music at a much faster rate
than his peers and progresses amazingly fast into the more
difficult compositions with ease and confidence. What's
more, when a student can read the music, they enjoy playing it
more! Hover over the card to see the back of the card -
telling what the note is in the treble and bass clefs.

What's next?

Once students can name the cards, I put them on the
music rack and have them physically play them on the piano; first
treble, then bass. Then I invert the cards and
repeat.

Then what?

Once students master easily naming the cards, I tell
them I am lazy and don't feel like turning the cards upside
down---can they please invert the cards mentally? ---(in treble
clef, middle 'C' upside down is 'A' two octaves above).
Students usually laugh and then try and do it---and I help them of
course. Students quickly learn they can mentally
invert the cards and feel very empowered! Beyond that
point, one can create arrangements of the cards on the music
stand and ask the student to name each new note in turn, when
prompted or to the beat of a metronome.

The real credit goes to Mr. Ragan!

I was priviliged to attend the Juilliard Prep school
when I was 16 years old as a student of Bronson Ragan who just
happened to also be the orchestration teacher in the school.
He was a genius. Lessons were scary and I came home crying,
but I learned so much. The school gossip was that Mr. Ragan
could grade the orchestration papers (exams) upside down. That's
incredibly difficult especially considering the 4 or five clefs
involved. He was held in deep awe at the school.
Years later at piano lessons, I realized I could do this too.
And that's when I invented Mozart's Flashcards.
Because Mr. Ragan really was a modern day Mozart.

These cards simply work. And they work wonders! Due to
the reflexive nature of the cards, the students musical minds
develop and mature very quickly--in a way like Mr. Ragan's.
The students enjoy playing, parents see that their children are
progressing quickly and we teachers can take part in passing on the
incredible art of music in a very tangible manner. Below are
some comments made by the parents of some of my students:

My daughter is Mr. Peter Krauss's student. My
daughter has been making tremendous progress in sight reading since
the use of flash card. I strongly recommend the use of flash
card for piano learners. The learner will master the music
piece fast when he/she learner has good sight reading abilities.
Have fun with your piano lesson.

Tersa Tseng's mother

My son has been taking piano with Peter Krauss over two years now.
I believe that the Note Cards designed and integrated into
my son's weekly piano lesson is one of the reasons contributing to
his dramatic improvement. Prior to taking lessons with Peter
Krauss, my son had to engage in completing pages and pages of
assignments in theory books, which he abhored. So, for my
child, the Note Cards, were not dreadful or intimidating, but
rather a repetitive and meaningful way to learn notes.

Thanks,

Maureen Welch
Parent

If you would like to purchase a set of my Mozart's Flashcards,
please contact me at the phone number or email address listed
below. I charge $14.95 per set, which includes shipping and
handling within the US. I hope to add a shopping cart to
this site soon, but in the interim, I accept Checks or money
orders, made payable to: Peter Krauss mailed to PO Box 306
LaGrangeville, NY 12540. When writing, make sure to include
your return address and/or the address where you would like me to
mail the cards. Thank you!

Contact Peter at
info[at]mozartflashcards[dot]com
for more information
or at 845-473-3384
9am-9pm Eastern time.